US’s Embassy in Baghdad Orders Its Employees to Leave

Media outlets reported that the US Embassy in Baghdad issued, on Friday, a statement confirming that the US State Department had instructed its employees in Baghdad and Erbil to leave Iraq.

The embassy stated in a statement: Given a set of security conditions and restricted travel procedures as a result of the COVID-19 epidemic, the State Department ordered the departure of US government employees appointed to the US Embassy in Baghdad and the Baghdad Center for Diplomatic Support, and the US Consulate General in Erbil.

The statement added, “Visa services in Baghdad and Erbil are still pending,” noting that “the US government has a limited ability to provide emergency services to US citizens in Iraq.”

The statement pointed out that “The United States Embassy in Baghdad is still closed to serve the auditors, so that the citizens of the United States in the Kurdistan region of Iraq who need emergency services can communicate via email. US citizens in various regions of Iraq can also contact Baghdad to obtain emergency assistance. ”

“One of the measures that must be taken is to leave Iraq through commercial flights as soon as possible”, the statement added.